Utility halts some projects statewide after Royal Oak blast

ROYAL OAK (AP) — A utility says it has halted projects throughout Michigan that involve the same drilling method used before a suburban Detroit house explosion that killed a 58-year-old man.

Consumers Energy said in a statement Thursday that employees and contractors are conducting a detailed review of procedures on projects involving boring. Upon completion of the review, the utility says it will resume those drilling operations.

The subsidiary of Jackson-based CMS Energy Corp. has said that natural gas leaking from a line serving the home in Royal Oak may have caused the Feb. 27 blast. Consumers Energy crews had been working for several days to replace a gas main on the street and may have damaged the line.

Daniel Malczynski (mal-ZIN’-skee) died in the blast, which leveled his house and damaged several others.